In our recent webinar, Peter Collins and I went through the 5 Key Steps to Audit-Ready IUID Labels. We started off this live webinar session by addressing a question that I get fairly regularly — Why are IUID labels so important?
Why are IUID labels so important?
IUID labels are important because the DoD requires a 2D barcode on all qualifying mission critical assets. This IUID Policy is outlined in Military Standard 130 (or MIL-STD-130) and further detailed in DFARs clause 252.211-7003. If you are in a branch of the US Military, or you are a defense contractor doing business with the military — your contract will almost assuredly require you to attach an IUID label to each of your items.
An IUID (or an Item Unique Identifier) is a unique ID number that is associated with a unique asset to allow the Department of Defense (DoD) to track and manage all of the millions of assets under their possession. This global unique identifier, in the form of a barcode, is the mechanism that the DoD uses to automate tracking all of its inventory.
IUID Labels are Permanent
The IUID is meant to be permanently attached to the asset for the entire lifetime of that asset. Once it’s attached, that IUID data needs to be reported to the iRAPT and IUID Registry. The IUID Registry is the master database for all government IUIDs. This IUID registration process is intended to be a one-time event — changing an IUID after it has been registered is possible but is a painful process.
FIAR Initiative
The Government Accounting Office estimates that the US Military has over 120 Million assets in their possession. No one would argue that keeping track of an inventory of this magnitude is an enormous challenge — not to mention that it’s in a constant state of change and literally located around the globe. But, as of early 2017 the IUID Registry reported only 32 Million accountable assets. However, the DoD is committed to full accountability and has made significant strides in recent years towards this initiative.
Currently, there is significant pressure by Congress, the White House and the Pentagon to have all government assets and property not only labeled with an IUID; but, also have that IUID reported to the IUID Registry. This desire for increased accountability has led to what is referred to as the Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness (FIAR) Initiative.
The FIAR Initiative is using the IUID Policy as a key instrument to achieve audit readiness. In order to achieve a clean audit the DoD will need to have IUID labels associated with all of their qualifying assets. Full accountability will clearly take some time to achieve; but, the Pentagon has made it very clear that they are committed towards this goal.
To learn more about why IUID labels are so important take a look at this quick 2-minute video.
Dive Deeper
To dive even deeper into how to create audit-ready IUID labels please take a look at our on-demand recording of the full webinar: 5 Key Steps to Audit-Ready IUID Labels. A2B Tracking CEO, Peter Collins and I go through the five basic but essential elements that you need to follow in order to comply with MIL-STD-130 and the IUID Policy.
Click here to watch the on-demand webinar.
